BEAR, DEL. — Locally based developer and general contractor Reybold Group is underway on vertical construction of a new, 16,893-square-foot retail center in Bear, about 10 miles south of Wilmington. The site is adjacent to the St. Andrews residential community. Upon completion, which is scheduled for later this year, the property will feature eight storefronts. One undisclosed tenant has signed a lease at the development.
NEW YORK CITY — JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) announced plans today to expand its brick-and-mortar footprint by adding 500 Chase bank branches over the next three years. The New York City-based institution also plans to renovate 1,700 existing bank locations across the United States. New branches will expand JPMorgan Chase’s footprint in existing markets like Boston; Washington, D.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Philadelphia; and Minneapolis. The company will also enter several new markets, including low- to moderate-income rural communities that previously had little access to traditional banking service. The multi-billion-dollar expansion effort will also contribute to local economic growth through the addition of 3,500 new employees, including construction jobs and local hiring upon completion, according to the company. JPMorgan first announced expansion efforts in 2018 with a $20 billion economic growth effort that included the addition of 400 new Chase branches over the subsequent five years. Since that time, the company has added more than 650 new branches, including 400 locations in 25 new states. Brick-and-mortar expansion efforts by JPMorgan have marked a stark shift in strategy, as a number of rival banks have been closing branches over the past few years and shifting more toward digital banking efforts. This year, Chase …
LANCASTER, KY. — Atlanta-based spirits company Staghorn is underway on the development of its first distillery, named Garrard County Distilling Co., situated on a 210-acre site in Lancaster, roughly 40 miles south of Lexington in Garrard County. Upon completion, the $250 million project will feature a 50,000-square-foot distillery, as well as two rickhouses and a visitor center with a tasting room and restaurant, with plans for up to 24 aging warehouses by 2030. The distillery is expected to create more than 60 permanent jobs and produce up to 150,000 barrels of bourbon each year. A construction timeline was not disclosed.
LOMBARD, ILL. — Aldi has opened a 22,951-square-foot store at Roosevelt Plaza, a shopping center in the Chicago suburb of Lombard. An affiliate of Next Realty LLC owns and manages the property. Aldi leased the space that was formerly home to X-Sport Fitness and joins tenants Hobby Lobby, Harbor Freight Tools, Fruitful Yield, Roadhouse 38 and Starbucks. The tenant build-out involved installing freezer and cooler spaces and removing the locker room facilities used by the previous tenant.
DALLAS — American Girl will open a 14,720-square-foot store next month at The Shops at Park Lane, a 33.5-acre mixed-use development in the University Park area of Dallas. In addition to a full range of dolls and accessories, the two-level store will feature a full-service café, personal shopping assistants, private party rooms, salon services and a floor-to-ceiling dollhouse exhibit. The opening is scheduled for early March. Northwood Retail owns and operates The Shops at Park Lane.
AURORA, COLO. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of a restaurant property located at 25455 E. Smoky Hill Road in Aurora, a suburb east of Denver. A developer sold the asset to a local all-cash investor in a 1031 exchange for $2.6 million. Starbucks Coffee occupies the 2,155-square-foot property on a net-lease basis. James Rassenfoss and Drew Isaac of Marcus & Millichap’s Denver office represented the seller, while Kyle Malnati at Kentwood Commercial represented the buyer in the deal.
CHICAGO — Mid-America Real Estate Corp. has arranged the sale of Lawndale Plaza, a 104,240-square-foot shopping center in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood. Anchored by Freshway Market, the property is home to Citi Trends, Taco Bell, PNC, Rainbow, Cosmo Superstore and O’Reilly Auto Parts. Rick Drogosz and Emily Gadomski of Mid-America represented the seller, Mercer Street Holdings Three. Acre Investment Co. LLC was the buyer.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Entertainment concept Level99 has opened a new, 40,000-square-foot venue at Providence Place, a shopping mall located just northwest of the capital city’s downtown area. Comprising 43 rooms, the facility offers interactive challenges as well as a restaurant, Night Shift Brewing Kitchen & Tap. Investment fund Act III Holdings, led by Panera Bread founder Ron Shaich, backs Level99. Brookfield Properties owns Providence Place.
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. — Crate & Barrel Outlet will open a 23,400-square-foot store in Lawrenceville, a northern suburb of Trenton. The space is located within Mercer on One, a 551,000-square-foot shopping center that was originally built in 1975. Alana Friedman and David Townes of JLL represented Crate & Barrel Outlet in the lease negotiations. Jeff Fischer represented the landlord, Federal Realty Investment Trust, on an internal basis.
HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — A joint venture between Essex Capital and Ascend Property Group has broken ground on Front Row, an 11-acre mixed-use project in downtown Huntsville. The $220 million first phase of Front Row is now underway, following news last week that Banco Inbursa and a group led by Keel Point and Opportunity Alabama provided $115 million in construction financing. The first retail space is slated for delivery in late 2025, followed by apartments and office space in early 2026. Upon full build-out, the first phase of Front Row will comprise two six-story buildings featuring 545 apartments, 36,000 square feet of office space and 47,000 square feet of retail space. Further plans for the project — including a hotel, a class A office tower and luxury condos — will be disclosed at a later date, according to the developers. The development will be situated across from the Von Braun Center, a 170,000-square-foot entertainment center that opened its doors in 1975. The developers state that Front Row is intended to interlink the Von Braun Center with other key areas of the city, such as Big Spring Park, Fountain Circle, University of Alabama Huntsville and Downtown Greenway. The project’s team also includes …